Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward suffered a third-degree MCL sprain, the team announced on Monday.

Ward won’t need surgery but is expected to be out for six to eight weeks.

The timeframe makes it hard for Ward to be much of a factor for the rest of the regular season but he could certainly be a factor in the postseason, should Carolina make it in.

With Ward out, Carolina will turn to Dan Ellis and Justin Peters to handle the goaltending duties. The team is not planning on making a trade, according to TSN.ca’s Bob McKenzie.

The 29-year-old Ward has been the Hurricanes’ starting goaltender for seven seasons now. He grabbed hold of the job during Carolina’ run to the Stanley Cup in the 2006 playoffs. This season in 17 games, Ward was 9-6-2 with a 2.84 goals against average and a .908 save percentage.

Ellis, who signed with Carolina after the lockout, has played well as Ward’s backup this season, posting a 3-2 record with a 2.53 GAA and a .923 save percentage. Peters has spent the parts of the past three seasons with the Hurricanes, posting a 3.23 GAA and a .900 save percentage during that time.

Ward was initially hurt in Sunday’s game against the Florida Panthers after Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk slid into him trying to defend Panthers’ forward Jack Skille’s rush to the net. Ward stayed in the game.

Just less than a minute later, Ward prepared to stop a shot from the point but went down when the puck was deflected away.

Ward had stopped all 15 shots he had faced before coming out of the game with 8:56 of the second period.

Backup goaltender Dan Ellis replaced Ward in the game. Ellis stopped 19 of 21 shots in relief as Carolina held on to beat Florida, 3-2.